Sunday, February 28, 2016

"Sex is more exciting on the screen and between the pages than between the sheets." - Andy Warhol

I talk aboutmy orientation—grey-asexual—a lot.That's because many people still don't know that asexuality, much less
grey-asexuality or greysexuality (I go with grey-a because I lean towards the ace
side of the spectrum), is an orientation and not just a mode of
reproduction.Furthermore, it gives me a
unique perspective on burlesque.

Recently
two articles have inspired me to revisit the subject of asexuality as it
relates to striptease.The first is The
Irresistible O's "Sexual Orientation and Burlesque: The Dirty Word",
which is about how burlesque is still not as open to queer performers as one
might think.We may be more accepting
than the mainstream, but the need for a queerlesque festival highlights the
fact that there's much more work to do.I had commented that I sometimes question whether I have a place when my
fellow performers emphasize the sexual aspect of burlesque.O encouraged me to share my view, and that's
what I have decided to do after I saw another article, "Burlesque Performer: You Are Not a Sex Worker" by Mary Cyn.When I tried to share why I agree with many
of her points, I noticed the connections with asexuality and thus this post was
born.

Now I
don't deny that burlesque is inherently sexual.Whenever I see discussions on burlesque, I see attraction get linked to
sex though.It's expected since that's
how it works for most people, but it's time to stop assuming that there doesn't
exist a small portion of population who do not experience sexual attraction.Sex can be broken down into scientific steps
without any positive or negative connotations.If I show you a video of two fruit flies engaged in courtship and
mating, you're not going to think about lust or desire because they're flies.Nevertheless, they're still having sex.

I approach
burlesque in the same way I would approach those fly courtship videos: with
careful analysis of the specific steps.This
has nothing to do with my scientific
background and everything with the
fact that I don't typically experience sexual attraction.It's easier to treat this aspect of human behavior
as a research topic because I don’t have much else to go on.

What I
present on stage is sexual in that it typically has something to do with sex—be
it the moves, tone, or politics.That's
it.In a way, I'm going through the
motions, but I have enough understanding of human behavior to know what the
audience will think I'm suggesting.Plus
there's other emotions and intentions being expressed in my performance.It becomes a game.I present an illusion and try to get the
audience to see through it into the many non-sexual emotions and concepts I've
layered into the routine.Burlesque, to
me, is about power.

I thought this was fitting.Artwork by Alice X. Zhang

This is
where I draw the distinction between me and a sex worker.Although sex workers can undoubtedly be
empowered by what they do, there is an exchange.At some point, it is up to the client to
determine what will happen.You can
argue that burlesque performances are partly influenced by producers and paying
audience members, but for those few minutes during which a dancer is on-stage,
they are in total control.It's like the
difference between giving a speech in front of a large crowd and having a
one-on-one conversation.You can be
great at presentations or acting and yet be socially awkward.The two situations call for different skills
that occasionally overlap.I have skills
and the willingness to do one (burlesque) but not the other (anything that
involves an exchange that is sexual), and so I don't consider myself a sex
worker at all.

If you're
still confused, then perhaps you can take comfort in knowing that I struggle to
understand the appeal of sex.It's not
that I don't like it or don't have hormonal urges, but when you don't have that
attraction driving you, there's not really a motivation to seek it.Then you start wondering why sex is everywhere
and on everyone's minds.Some people are
just wired differently from the majority of the population, but that's why it's
important to listen to their perspectives, as they can broaden your view of the
world.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

"This is love. These people loved me. I loved them. I didn't pretend to
feel something so I could screw people over. I loved them. And then I
betrayed them. I shot a man I loved. Frakked over another man, ruined
his life. And why? Because I'm a lying machine. I'm a frakking Cylon!" - Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, Battlestar Galactica

I've never
wanted to be a producer—not when I started burlesque, not when I did theatre in
college.In fact, when one of my
roommates became a producer for Much Ado
About Nothing and the other became the A.D., I helped them out while
asserting that I be called "Head Minion" and not "Assistant Producer".However, as my burlesque (and now drag) journey has revealed,
"never" is not actually a permanent term.

Joining
the Tuesday Tease production team changed my perspective.As a producer, I could give back to the
community and help provide space for marginalized voices.Plus I had ideas (and extant producers
already had plenty of their own).I needed
a lot of guidance before I was ready to produce, but I also wanted the crew to
be aware that I wanted to be more involved.Therefore when the idea that I co-produce a nerdy Tease with Lillith Grey came forth, I knew it would be time…time for Dawn of the Nerd. *cue dramatic music*

By Brandy Lynne Photography
www.brandylynnephotography.com

That
didn't make the task any more daunting, especially since I wanted to perform
too.Had my routine been anything
other than "Birth of Boomer", I probably would have shelved it.That's because "Birth of Boomer"
was a Battlestar Galactica-inspired
reverse striptease.If I performed first
and came with hair and make-up ready, I could exit already dressed and ready to
step into the boots of a producer.

Ever since
I saw Battlestar Galactica, I wanted
to dance to the soundtrack.Bear
McCreary's use of percussion just stirs up something inside of me.I never got to do my belly dance routine to
one of his songs, but now I could do a burlesque tribute.

My other
inspiration was Stormy Leather's Cylon act.Her embodiment of a Cylon's dual nature—mechanical and organic,
threatening and sexy— really blew me away.Although it can be easy to fall into the trap of imitating those you
admire, I made sure to focus on my vision, which took a different approach to
another Cylon character.

By Brandy Lynne Photography
www.brandylynnephotography.com

A reverse
strip made the most sense to what I wanted to portray: Cylon resurrection and
the creation of the sleeper agent Sharon "Boomer" Valerii.Bear's music is so primal yet the series
takes place in the future—another dichotomy I wanted to portray.I also decided to make the glowing spine to
add a sexy touch to the routine and a reveal.The tutorial I followed probably did not intend for the wearer to be
dancing around nearly nude, and I wound up with more wires than I would have
liked.However, I'm proud of my
prototype, as well as the final product that is "Birth of Boomer".

While all
of this was happening, I was booking acts for the show.Lillith helped with the logistics, but I had
to come up with the line-up.I realized
that I didn't know as many performers and acts as I had thought and that I might
have gone a little too specific with the post-apocalyptic theme.After experiencing some cancellations, I
thought maybe the show was cursed, but I learned that this is the struggle of
all producers.

At a show,
there's a lot of little things going on backstage that you don't notice until
it's your job.I'm not just talking
about the activities of stage kittens and tom cats.You have to coordinate with the sound person,
the host, the stage manager, and the venue. Also, lists are your best friend.Next time I'll definitely more prepared.

Despite a couple
of hiccups, the show went well."Birth of Boomer" was probably an odd opener because people
expect clothes to be taken off and it is a more serious number.However, the Battlestar Galactica fans enjoyed it, and I had fun.

I was bummed about not being able to
celebrate afterward, but I was immensely thankful for all the performers giving
110% out there, the crowd for their enthusiastic support, Friskey Business for
managing backstage, and Lillith for her guidance.While producing is still a scary job to me,
I'm willing to give it a shot again. Before that happens, you can catch me (and my drag clone Tony Fo-Hawk) back at Tuesday Tease next week with all-new routines: